£5,250
The Minoprio Collection: British Design in the Arts & Crafts Tradition | 669
Auction: 11 January 2022 at 14:00 GMT
walnut, with sycamore inlay, stamped BARNSLEY
Provenance:
Commissioned from Edward Barnsley by John Minoprio
Literature: Carruthers, A. Edward Barnsley and his Workshop, 1992, p.96
Note: After the war, Barnsley began to move away from the Cotswolds idiom of his youth to develop his own style based on lighter 18th century furniture which he admired, and epitomised by this chest of drawers with its serpentine front and sycamore line inlay. This change in style coincided with the introduction of new techniques and some machinery which was a source of conflict in the workshop, with Barnsley in favour of preserving the traditional ways promoted by his father and Ernest Gimson. His foreman Bert Upton succeeded in persuading Barnsley to introduce some machine processes into the workshop, mainly through economic necessity but also because the machinery available had become much more advanced and effective. The cabinetmaker for this chest was assistant George Taylor, under foreman Herbert Upton.